Memory
by L122yTorch
Summary: Things are only complicated until you make them simpler. Benson and Stabler are more than ready for simple. Part II of Mission


Mechanically Olivia switched the light on and dropped her coat on the back of her couch. Elliot closed the door behind them, watching Olivia's moves intently. Feeling his glare on her made the hair on her neck stand up. She stood motionless in the middle of her living room, idly staring down at her once white shirt that had blossomed into a deep scarlet. "I'm going to get in the shower," she said without even turning to look at Elliot. He watched as her figure disappeared and listened to the sound of the shower start. Quite unsure of what to do, Elliot shuffled over to the kitchen and made some eggs.

The fluffy bundles of protein designated for Olivia grew cold as thirty-five minutes past. Beginning to worry, Elliot made his way to outside of the bathroom door. "Liv," he said expectantly. "Are you okay Olivia?" A moment passed without change before the shower suddenly ceased running. Another minute of waiting and silence followed. Suddenly the stillness was shattered as the door flung open (thankfully it opened inwardly). Out strode an annoyed looking Olivia wrapped in a towel. "This is exactly what I didn't want Elliot," she said making her way to the dresser. "I can't get a moment of peace at work and now I'm being babysat at home." The relief of having Elliot here was quickly becoming an annoyance as Olivia realized she couldn't even break down in her own apartment. "If I asked you to leave would you?" she asked, honestly not knowing the answer.

"Liv," his voice sprang up from close behind her, "I know what it's like to be traumatized like that. And honestly, after it happens I don't want to be alone, so I figured you wouldn't want to be." "I'm always alone," she let slip, tinges of bitterness dripping off her tone. She shut the drawer and stood there still, hoping that the words she just said would vanish in the silence. By now tears were streaming down her face and all she wanted was for Elliot to walk out her door. "Well, Kathy left me, so you're not the only one," he said before collapsing back into the quiet.

"Olivia," he said with questioning inflection, placing a hand on her cold bare shoulder. She quickly readjusted her shoulder to shake off his touch. "Okay," he said, turning around. Within two steps he heard a sound that nearly stopped his heart. Leaning against the dresser Olivia began to cry, her shoulders convulsing to every gasp for air. She swung around and was met with Elliot's consuming embrace.

So tired of coming home to no one, so tired of holding in all of the horror that she witnessed every day, Olivia thought _to hell with it_ and cried in her partner's arms. She never wanted to let go. Never let go of his sweet deep smell, his warm soft skin, the rhythmic beating of his heart. But he let go and took a step back, holding her face in his hands. Her warm wet hair tickled his hands as he swept it off her face and caught her tears. There was his partner, in the palm of his hands sporting a nasty black eye and probably many more bruises, not to mention the mental scars; and it broke his heart.

_I almost lost her. I almost lost her, _was the only sentence that kept flashing in his mind. Tears pooled in his eyes and his throat burned trying to choke back the reality of the situation. "Nothing could have been done differently," she whispered, reading his mind. "It's not your fault, there's nothing you could have done…" "That's what scares me," he replied looking down at the floor. "I couldn't do anything, what if…" "El don't. It wasn't me, I'm okay." Elliot breathed this reality in and a tear rolled down his cheek, it glimmered in the light as he put his hand over his mouth and turned away from Olivia.

After a moment he let out a sigh and told her to sit on the bed while he got an icepack from the freezer. She did so, and in a moment he returned a bagee full of ice and wrapped in paper towel. Blood still clung to the majority of his shirt from having held her in his arms at the warehouse, he could see her staring at it as he strode closer to her. Worry notched itself in her furrowed brow as the blood of the scene flooded back into her mind. The ice clanked as it hit the top of the dresser and Elliot took off his shirt. "Better?" he asked, picking up the ice once again. "Yea," she said through biting her top lip.

Olivia sat on the edge of the bed, still in her towel and looked up at her partner towering above her. With the utmost gentility he placed the ice on her left eye and cupped her face with his other hand. The soft light emanating from the nightstand lamp lit up Elliot's muscles and got lost in their grooves. They had never been this close for this long. His presence melted away the night of terror that lie in the past and it showed on her face. Her deep brown eyes gazed up at his. "You're never alone," he managed to croak, staring at her as if he were looking into her soul. She put her hand on his hand that was holding the ice and removed it. Fear swelled inside Elliot as he began to accept the implications of what he had just said, but instead Olivia laid a hand on his chest and pulled him closer. His hands were on either side of her and only an inch separated their faces, want screaming inside of them, drawing them nearer like a magnet.

Their soft lips met in a gentle brush before inhibition ceased in a tumult of passion. Olivia's hand glided over Elliot's back as he lifted her further onto the bed. Her kisses were intoxicating, they tasted like he always had imagined them. Both were too scared to break this never-ending kiss for fear that they wouldn't get another. Her hands caressed over his body, over the cuts Stucky had sliced in his chest, over the healed gunshot wounds in his shoulder, over the scar on the back of his neck from being slammed into a window. Further her hands went and unbuttoned his pants. He slid them off in one quick motion and slipped his hands up her towel. Kisses were trailed her neck and her towel unraveled. His strong hands roamed every inch of her body. As he moved up to kiss her once more she slipped off his boxers. A small moan escaped his lips as she grabbed his throbbing dick and pumped it as she kissed her way down his body. She licked a line up his shaft before taking him into her mouth. Shuttered and rapid breaths danced off his lips. His heartbeat raced in her mouth. Sitting up Elliot grasped her and in one fell swoop swung her underneath him. He yanked the covers down on the bed and rolled them into the soft sheets that smelled just like her.

His hand tickled up her thigh before plunging two fingers deep into her soft wet core. Her nails dug into his back in approval. The word "please" hung in the air in her voice for a moment before he drew inside of her. He filled every inch of her and they melted together.

Afterwards they fell asleep in pure exhaustion, wrapped around each other as if for dear life. For once the future didn't matter, all that mattered was the warm breath of the person next to them.


End file.
